Misunderstanding
by AZGirl
Summary: Will a malicious prank and a misunderstanding tear Team Gibbs apart? Spoilers for 9.02 Restless.
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: Misunderstanding

**Summary**: Will a malicious prank and a misunderstanding tear Team Gibbs apart?

**Disclaimer**: NCIS is not mine. I'm just borrowing the concepts and characters for a little while.

**Spoilers**: 9.02 Restless, plus minor references to several other episodes I'm too lazy to list.

**A/N**: Thanks to _ncismom_ for the beta! Remaining mistakes are mine.

ooooooo

Last night had gone better than he thought it would. His confession to Tim as to who the _real_ victim of the 'flagpole incident' (as he chose to think of it) was taken with a surprising amount of understanding and sympathy. There were none of his semi-nasty barbs and the Probie seemed supportive of his lapse in memory and of him.

And in return, McGee confessed that he'd been a victim of teasing and bullying a few times during high school. Tony walked out of the conference room with a sense that he and Tim had a better understanding of each other, that their friendship had deepened in a way. And he felt better overall now that he knew he had not actually been so uncool as to pull the malicious prank Stinky John had successfully pulled on him.

He grimaced a little with the sudden remembrance of the pain and humiliation that being run up that flagpole had caused him at the time. That incident had prompted him to get into sports in an attempt to not be made fun of and he'd discovered it was something he was actually good at – very good, depending on the sport in question. And over time, his abilities in football and basketball had overshadowed and erased the embarrassment of that day.

Tony left a little early that evening and was looking forward to starting off the weekend with the mud wrestling tickets Ziva and Tim had given him. He knew his mood had been off lately and was looking forward to the night out with the three frat buddies who were more than willing to come along and enjoy the sights. At least there was one area of his life he was certain about.

ooooooo

He arrived early Monday morning. Well, not early enough to beat Gibbs, but definitely early enough to have beat McGee and Ziva to the office. Reaching his desk, he noticed a large brown envelope had been left for him.

Curious, he lifts the envelope up off his desk to examine it. Right away he noticed several things: no postage, no return address, the envelope is addressed specifically to him along with the Yard's address, and whatever is inside is soft and pliable. Mindful of his exposure to the plague seven years ago, he decides to go ahead and open the package knowing that mail in federal agencies is now aggressively monitored for bio-hazardous threats and explosives. But still paranoid, he keeps the envelope at arms' length, holds his breath and carefully lifts the barely glued down flap.

When nothing happens, he cautiously looks inside at the contents, but still doesn't dare to breathe. Catching a glimpse of the package within's label, his stomach drops down into his feet and he expels the breath he'd been holding. He closes his eyes and takes a deep, calming breath hoping what's inside is not what he'd thought he'd seen. Taking another peek to confirm the envelope's contents, his shoulders sag and disappointment washes over him.

McGee. It had to be him; can't be anyone else. The only other people that know about this are Stinky John (who had apologized to him) and Gibbs. And Gibbs would never, _ever_ betray him like that. A flip remark to put him in his place or a head slap to get him to focus, but never would Gibbs do anything like … this.

But McGee. Tony thinks McGee is definitely capable of being cruel like this if past verbal barbs are anything to go by. Ziva would also lose no sleep in doing something like this. But, if she did this, then that would mean that McGee had to have told her about their private conversation.

_Of course, the information may not have been given over entirely voluntarily_, he thinks as his mind flashed back to that alley where Ziva had tricked him into spilling the beans about that sperm bank. But until he saw evidence otherwise, the culprit had to be McGee.

_How could…? Why would Tim do something so…so…cruel?_ he thinks to himself. _I thought we'd come to a better understanding of each other during our talk._

Without realizing, his legs give and he's sitting in his chair still staring into the package. Why would McGee twist the knife in his back about one of his worst childhood experiences?

Granted, the 'flagpole incident' barely made the Top 25 of worst childhood experiences overall – his mother's death and the subsequent major changes to his life taking up a good portion of that list. But since he'd been forced to remember the truth, the incident definitely did make it to the list of Top 10 worst school-related experiences. Perhaps even the Top 5, depending on if he included college incidences or not.

If college incidences were included, then the top spot on his worst school-related experiences would absolutely and positively go to the game in which Dr. Brad Pitt broke his leg – the game which ended his dreams of being a professional football player. At the time, he'd been so devastated and lost, cast adrift from what he thought the path of his life would take. But he'd stumbled, almost literally, upon police work and eventually NCIS. He'd thought he'd found his calling here, a place where he belonged, but right this moment he wasn't so sure.

A package of child-sized 'tighty whities'? What was McGee playing at?

He knows he can't leave the evidence of this 'joke' lying around – not with a nosy Ziva around. Realizing there's no good place to get rid of the package, he decides to deposit the hated envelope and its contents in his car's trunk. He'd burn the evidence of the ill-conceived prank later.

Grabbing his keys and putting the envelope under his arm, he starts to walk determinedly to the stairs leading to the parking garage.

"Where do you think you're going, DiNozzo?"

Still walking, he throws back over his shoulder, "Left my phone in my car, Boss."

He knows without a doubt Gibbs saw the envelope, but he doesn't care. He just wants the damned package out of sight and hopefully out of mind for the day – knowing the 'out of mind' part was going to be the more difficult to accomplish.

Tony manages to avoid McGee and Ziva in the parking garage – a minor miracle as far as he's concerned. As he's riding back up to his floor, he's decides to not let McGee (and Ziva?) have the satisfaction of seeing that the prank had bothered him.

ooooooo

Stepping out of the elevator, he has his phone in hand, making like he's checking for any messages that he may have missed. He knows he's not fooling Gibbs – he never has and probably never will – but he knows it'll fool his teammates if Boss mentioned where he'd gone.

By the time he gets back to his desk, there was a dead body – the file coming at him with barely a warning. There was no time for the usual morning banter because of the new case and Tony was glad something had come up. He was _definitely_ was _not_ glad someone had died, but he was happy for the distraction from that envelope and McGee's 'funny' joke.

On the ride to the scene of the crime, he wondered if anything he'd ever said in jest or any of his pranks had been cruel in nature or had exploited something said in confidence. He couldn't think of anything, but given how he'd flip-flopped the 'flagpole incident' and his recent concussion and amnesia – could he really be sure of his memory anymore? What other truths was he hiding from himself?

They spent the day working the case, and neither McGee nor Ziva made any remarks related to Stinky John or the flagpole. Tony decided to not do or say anything about the envelope he found as a 'present' on his desk this morning. McGee had chosen not to rub it in any further or mention the envelope at all. Maybe he just wanted to get a bit of revenge for all the times he'd had his fingers glued to the keyboard.

Fine. He could take it like a man. Some retribution was to be expected. He just wished McGee hadn't decided to use a moment during which he'd thought they'd bonded as canon-fodder.

ooooooo

The next morning, he'd arrived after Ziva and before McGee. When his desk comes in to sight, he can immediately see that a brown envelope lying atop it. His eyes flicker towards Ziva wondering if she'd been her sometimes nosy self and looked inside the envelope or not.

"Good morning, Ziva," he says as cheerfully as possible while stowing his gear and sitting down.

"Morning, Tony," Ziva distractedly replies without looking up from her computer monitor.

The reaction is a little suspicious for Ziva – usually she's in his face about something right about now. But, he realized, the irregular behavior could be explained away if she was simply concentrating on writing yet another email to her friend in South America or to CI-Ray.

Turning his attention back to the envelope, he noticed that on the outside it looked exactly like the one from yesterday. But, it's obvious there's something different inside given how flat it is today as compared to the previous morning. He starts to lift the flap to look inside, but decides not to for two reasons. One: He really does not want to let whatever is inside affect his working relationship (and friendship?) any more than it's been effected. And two: Given the relatively benign prank 'gift' of yesterday, the contents are either just as benign or more vicious in nature – or both.

He was in no mood for Ziva to catch a whiff of what was currently causing his darkening mood. That is if she didn't already know the envelope's contents. He mentally shakes his head at that thought. There's no proof yet that she's teamed up with McGee in the execution of these pranks.

Besides McGee, the only person who knows the truth is Gibbs, and while his mentor might take the opportunity to get a dig in…

It has to be McGee, but why?

Again, he mentally shakes his head. _No use in rehashing any of that right now_.

Hoping he didn't give anything away when he opened the envelope only part-way, he carefully arranges the expression on his face to one of his usual happy-go-lucky ones. He slips the envelope under his arm as he rises from his chair and starts walking towards the elevator.

Once he's passed the bullpen, he calls back to Ziva, "Going for coffee. Back in ten."

With any luck, it wouldn't take him longer than ten minutes to put the offending object in his trunk (away from nosy people with grabby hands) and get a coffee.

It actually takes him nine minutes, which is apparently two minutes too long as McGee has arrived and Gibbs has returned from wherever it is he goes in the morning after he arrives at the office. Gibbs asks for a sitrep on their case and he gets a head slap for not having anything new, while McGee and Ziva apparently had, in the short time he was gone, at least gathered more on a possible motive even though it results in no new leads by the end of the morning.

He knows he's distracted by what's going on between him and McGee. Knows he shouldn't let it distract him because he does deserve some of what Tim is dishing out. But, he can't help it. Can't help feeling let down by McGee's betrayal of the real story behind Stinky John, something that he'd shared in confidence.

They'd been working together for more than seven years now. You'd think McGee with his McMIT brain would know by now that Tony only meant to keep his Probie on his toes, that everything he'd done had been meant to be funny, a joke, but never meant to drive a knife into his back.

Over the years, Tim and Ziva had offered up hurtful zingers in response to things Tony's said:

"_How old do you think I am?" Tony asked just a few days ago._

"_Physically or mentally?" was Ziva's oh-so-clever response_.

And that was one of the tamer remarks that have been made over the years. And maybe now they've graduated to the next level. They always have claimed (either by implication or plain, overt comments) to be better and smarter than him.

_No matter_, he thinks. _I've been with Gibbs the longest. And Gibbs once said that Rule 5 applied to me. So, that's got to mean something, right? Unless it no longer applies…_

The black cloud hanging over Tony's head all day did have one advantage. Because he was unconsciously not acting like his usual self and because he was ignoring the rest of the team (including Gibbs), he found a lead that pointed them towards figuring out who their prime suspect was. Now all they had to do was find the guy.

Gibbs eventually let them go for the night after it became obvious it would take a while before they would get any responses to their BOLO. Tony got out of there as fast as he was able, knowing Gibbs knew there was something up, but not wanting to give the team leader an opportunity to hold him back for a talk he really didn't want to have. He sighed in relief when the elevator doors closed before either McGee or Ziva were able to get in with him or Gibbs was able to call out his name.

He'd go home, have dinner, and watch a mini-marathon of _Magnum P.I._ before going to bed. Tomorrow would come soon enough – along with tomorrow's prank. Tony was in bed before he'd realized that he hadn't even looked inside today's envelope let alone taken it or the previous day's out of his trunk and destroyed them. As he fell asleep, Tony hoped that by not reacting to the damned 'presents' he was being left, that McGee would get over this now over-developed vicious streak sooner rather than later.

ooooooo

On the way into the office the next day, he gave himself a Gibbs-slap for forgetting to take the previous days' envelopes out of his trunk.

_Idiot!_ he admonished himself.

His gut was also telling him that Gibbs would be waiting for him this morning so he made sure to time his arrival to nearly that of his two younger teammates – taking the next elevator up after them. Sure enough, Gibbs was at his desk throwing a concerned glare his way and when he sat down, there was of course another envelope.

It was the same on the outside as the others, and from the feel, something different was inside yet again. He couldn't, or rather _didn't_ want to open it up there in the bullpen. And, he didn't think he could get away with the excuses of the last two mornings to leave his desk – Gibbs wouldn't believe them. And, unfortunately, there wasn't really anyway to hide today's equivalent of the twist of the knife in his back from overly-curious eyes.

He didn't have many options left open to him. His best, he thought, was to open it, make like it was something of no consequence, that it was something he was expecting (which, in truth, he had been) and then put it away in his desk. Treating it like junk mail and throwing it in his garbage can would allow the opportunity for people to think they could rifle through his trash. So far his teammates hadn't violated the illusion of privacy his desk provided. He'd get the chance to rid himself of today's hated 'joke' at some point when no one was around to see him do it.

Unfortunately, the opportunity never presented itself. They got several hits on their BOLO and in following them up; they were able to capture their suspect. Tony was careful to give his teammates a wide berth. He was polite and respectful, and he made sure he gave them no new ammunition to use against him.

He could tell that the reemergence of 'Serious Tony' was worrying them. That, to them, 'Serious Tony' was the same as 'Nice Gibbs' was to him, but he didn't care. He was tired of trying to prove himself to them, tired of being the brunt of their cruel jokes. From time-to-time during the day, he could feel Gibbs' concerned gaze fall upon him, but he studiously ignored it. He was not in the mood to have Gibbs, once he found out what was going on, laugh at him and tell him he deserved this current retaliation because of his past actions.

_Well Boss_, he thought. _There's such a thing as going too far, and I've never ever crossed that line_.

Capturing their suspect evidently did not mean their case was closed. Once Gibbs starting interrogating him, he confessed to having a 'silent partner' in crime which seemed to explain some of the evidence that didn't fit with the guy they'd caught.

More information gathering was the order of business for the rest of the day and into the night. Once they'd figured out who the 'silent partner' was based on what little information their suspect had given them, a BOLO was issued on her. When Gibbs finally gave the word that they could go home, and while McGee and Ziva were distracted gathering their things, Tony managed to slip the hated envelope of the day out of his drawer and stuff it into his backpack. He's pretty sure Gibbs saw him do it (because somehow Gibbs sees everything), but it didn't matter to him anymore so late in the night. He just wanted to go home.

ooooooo

Even though he'd been worn out from the day and the effort of remaining professional with his teammates, he didn't get much sleep that night. First and foremost, he dreaded seeing what today's envelope contained – if he even bothered to look inside it. Second, he dreaded the talk he and Gibbs were destined to have due to his recent behavior. And third, he really didn't want to have to pretend anymore that he wasn't annoyed with Tim (and possibly Ziva) for a host of things stemming from their talk and his confession about Stinky John.

He couldn't sleep thinking about what was going on and McGee's joke that was now past going too far. Good-natured ribbing, even the not-so-good natured ribbing, he endured from time-to-time from McGee and Ziva was much more tolerable than this near torment. He'd thought remaining silent, not reacting, would have given him (them) the message to back off, but so far it wasn't working. And he was getting tired of it. Tired to the point where he might just have to shove the next envelope of the day down McPrankster's throat.

Giving up on sleep, he tried going for a run to clear his head. When that didn't work, he decided to go into the office. He made sure to time it so that he arrived after Gibbs arrived and had gone away from his desk. As much as he dreaded going to work right now, he still loved his job. He just wasn't all too sure about the people he worked with anymore.

If they had no problem exploiting this traumatic event of his childhood that he told to Tim in confidence, then they would probably have no qualms about exploiting other traumatic events. He shuddered to think what his teammates might do with the full story surrounding his mother's death and decided they never would know now. He was going to be very careful what he said to his teammates from now on. He wouldn't reveal any more personal details of his life to those he couldn't trust them with anymore.

He had a fleeting bit of hope that there wouldn't be an envelope today. That McGee and Ziva had given up trying to get a reaction from him. But the second that he could see his desk, that bit of hope was crushed by an anvil and then stomped on into oblivion by a herd of elephants. He set down his pack and grabbed the newest envelope intent on getting rid of it as soon as possible.

But as he turned to leave the bullpen, he heard Gibbs call out his name. Tony turned, dreading that Gibbs had chosen this moment for their inevitable talk. Chosen this moment for a talk in which he was holding damning evidence of three – now four – days of humiliation. Except that talk never came.

Instead Gibbs informed him they'd gotten a hit on the BOLO for the 'silent partner' and the Boss needed him right away for back-up. He had no time to get rid of today's envelope, so he quickly assuaged his paranoia that someone would learn of his humiliation by shoving it into his locked desk drawer and ran to catch up to his team leader. Ziva and McGee met them at the location the BOLO had produced and they managed to take down the 'silent partner' accomplice without a shot being fired.

Back at NCIS HQ, Gibbs was off in interrogation making sure they had the right lady, while the rest of the team was sent off to do paperwork instead of getting to observe. Tony was briefly disappointed. He loved watching the Boss in interrogation – learning from the master. But the government loved its paperwork to be done on time, and the more that was done now meant that there would be less to do later – meaning after normal working hours later.

After a long while of paper-pushing, his bladder impressed upon him its need to be emptied. He should've known better than to use the men's restroom on their floor because for some reason everyone liked to corner him in there – thought confronting him while he was urinating was a fabulous idea. He'd just stepped up to the urinal and unzipped his pants when both his teammates walked in.

Seeing the two of them and assessing their expressions, he zipped his pants back up and took a step away from the urinal. The three of them stared at each other for a couple of drawn out moments. Tony remained quiet, deciding that if they were going to interrupt what should be his private, personal time, then they should be the ones to have to speak first. Ziva and McGee gave each other a look as if deciding who should do the talking. Ziva raised her eyebrow and McGee shifted his stance looking more uncomfortable than he did a short time ago.

_So, it's to be Ziva_, Tony thought to himself.

And it confirmed, at least in his mind, that McGee had told her (or was tricked into telling her) and she must also be involved in the last four days of fun. He shifted his full attention to her as she began to speak.

"We are worried about you, Tony."

_Wait. What?_

"Worried about me?" he blurted not understanding what was going on.

"Yes. You have not been yourself these last few days."

_What the hell? What game are they playing?_

She continued before his mind could regroup and respond out loud.

"You have been reverting back to how you were last year during that," she flails a hand while obviously trying to think of the word she wants, "_thing_ with Brenda Bittner."

"We miss our class clown, Tony," McGee interjects.

_Now they're blaming me for how I've been the last few days? That is it! I've had it with this crap!_

"Well, you two should've thought of that before pulling your little prank," he nearly spits out before attempting to get passed them and out the door.

Ziva manages to grabs his arm, "Do not be so melodramatic."

"Melodramatic? Me? I've been as polite and professional with you two these last few days as possible, hoping you'd give up on this stupid, vicious scheme you've had going. But it's never going to end is it?"

"What are you—?" McGee starts to ask, but Tony, having lost all patience with his teammates, interrupts.

He points his finger at McGee, "I trusted you Tim, and you betrayed me. First to her," he points blindly towards Ziva, "and then the two of you together with your on-going prank." Tony pauses and then continues with sarcasm and unhappiness in his voice. "Thanks so much for making me dread even getting out of bed in the morning."

"We haven't done anything to you, Tony," McGee practically stammers out.

"Right. So, I'm just imagining the 'gifts' you've been leaving me every morning the last four days," he blows out a frustrated sigh and grabs the door handle.

"Tony, the only thing going on lately is that business with Skanky John…" McGee's quiet interjection of "Stinky" is barely heard, and Ziva continues. "Whatever. Stinky John. Stop being the child you were then and grow up!"

The senior field agent opens the door and says in a voice dripping with venom, "Telling me to grow up? After what you've done… I can't believe two people I thought were my friends, people I trusted, are treating me like this."

McGee opens his mouth to say something, but Tony cuts him off. "No, Agent McGee. Don't even try to deny it. Agent David, please tell Agent Gibbs that I've gone home sick and to contemplate my future with this organization."

He steps out the door and is gone before McGee and Ziva can even wrap their heads around what Tony has just said. They both had the same, silent question running through their heads stopping them in their tracks.

_Tony is thinking of leaving NCIS?_

ooooooo

_To be concluded._

**ooooooo**

**A/N:** I'm hoping to publish the second half of this story on Friday…

_**Thanks for reading!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Title**: Misunderstanding

**Summary**: Will a malicious prank and a misunderstanding tear Team Gibbs apart?

**Disclaimer**: NCIS is not mine. I'm just borrowing the concepts and characters for a little while.

**Spoilers**: 9.02 Restless plus minor references to several other episodes I'm too lazy to list.

**A/N**: This story was beta'd, but all remaining mistakes are mine. Thanks to all those who read, reviewed, alerted and/or favorited the first part.

There's a POV switch from Gibbs to Tony in this chapter.

ooooooo

Gibbs was extremely satisfied with the outcome of his interrogation of the 'silent partner'. He not only got her to confess, but she then turned against their primary suspect, asking for a deal. With a fresh, hot cup of coffee in hand, he returned to his bullpen to find McGee and Ziva talking in hushed and – angry? worried? – tones by McGee's desk.

"You two going to get some work done sometime today?"

His question startled his two younger agents, who then cast guilty looks towards his senior field agent's desk as they each sat down at their own.

"Where's DiNozzo?"

"He's gone home sick, Boss," McGee offered up, looking uncomfortable about what he said.

"Sick," he said clearly not believing it, but deciding to ask the logical follow-up question. "Did he say what's wrong?"

His two junior agents shared another guilty look with each other, and he was now positive that this all had to do with Tony and his odd behavior the last several mornings.

"Spit it out, you two. What's going on with DiNozzo?" Both seemed reluctant to speak, so he took the choice from them. "McGee, speak!"

"Well, Boss. We think…" Tim pauses and shifts his stance, clearly nervous about how his boss will react to what he's about to say. "We think it has to do with Stinky John."

Knowing that Tony had planned on telling McGee the truth about the 'flagpole incident', he asked, "Ziva, did he tell you too?"

"No Gibbs, he did not. I..." she begins and then stops for a second or two, her expression changing to one of regret, perhaps remorse. "I tricked McGee into telling me what they had talked about."

Furious on his friend's behalf, Gibbs grinds out, "Conference room. Now." He takes a step then suddenly turns and points at McGee, ordering, "No cameras."

Hanging his head a little, he responds, "Yes, Boss," and types some commands into his computer. "Conference Room 3, Boss."

Ziva and McGee don't move right away, so he makes a shooing motion and bites out, "Go."

Knowing that his remaining agents recognized the extremely pissed off tone of his voice, he enjoys watching them startle and scurry towards their destination. Once there, he motions them to sit and says, pointing to McGee, "From the beginning."

McGee then proceeds to inform Gibbs about Tony pulling him aside to a conference room and him learning the truth behind Stinky John and the flagpole – that Tony was the actual victim. He also recounted what else they'd spoken about and his opinion that they'd made some headway on their friendship. Ziva, having seen the two of them coming out of the conference room together, went after the weakest link – tricking McGee into telling her what they'd talked about. Though the temptation had been there for a couple of minutes, they decided to not tease Tony about the recently uncovered truth and to simply not mention the incident again.

They then both reported how, since Monday, Tony had been overly polite and professional – almost cold towards them. Not speaking unless necessary, refusing invitations to go to lunch with them, and looking pretty downcast, but also barely able to check his temper these last few days. So, while Gibbs had been interrogating the partner, McGee and Ziva admitted to confronting Tony in the men's restroom and confessed just how well that situation did not go.

"So, DiNozzo thinks you've been doing something to him, playing some sort of trick, since Monday?"

He gets two nervous heads nods from two agents expecting to be reamed out by their superior. But Gibbs ignores the urge to yell for a moment choosing instead to listen to what his gut is screaming. His gut is telling him, rather forcibly, that he needs to check Tony's desk. Decision made, he gives in to his first impulse and leans over; the two hands he puts on the table in front of him bringing him face-to-face with his agents.

He glares captures and pins down Ziva first. "Ziver, if he'd had wanted you to know, then he would'a told you. You should know better by now not to pry into things your teammates, your _friends_ do not want you to know."

The glaring continued until Ziva broke the gaze and eyes on the table, she nearly whispers, "Yes, Gibbs."

Gibbs then turns his glare to McGee. "He trusted you with what he told you. You should know better than to let Ziva extract sensitive information like that from you."

McGee nods. "Sorry, Boss."

"I don't need an apology, Tim. Tony does. And both of you are going to have to work hard on regaining Tony's trust in you."

With that he storms out of the room and back down to their bullpen. He heads straight to Tony's desk and stands next to the chair, looking at the desk for a moment noting DiNozzo's backpack is still on the floor. Then, he opens a drawer. DiNozzo's weapon is still there too. By that time McGee and Ziva had caught up with him.

"What are you looking for, Boss?"

Gibbs ignores McGee's question and keeps opening drawers until he can't anymore. One is locked. He hurries to his desk, retrieves his lock picks, and proceeds to break into the drawer. Lying on top of his box of medals is a brown envelope. His gut flips at the sight of the envelope and he knows it's what he was looking for, knows it is the cause of Tony's problems.

He grabs a pair of latex gloves out of his coat pocket and takes the envelope out of the drawer. Shutting it, taking care to lock it again, he returns with the envelope to his desk and sits down. Carefully, he opens the envelope flap and peers inside. What he sees makes him extremely pissed off, and he thrusts the envelope in his younger agents' faces.

"You ever have seen this before?"

Simultaneously, one says, "No, Boss," while the other answers, "No, Gibbs."

Looking into their eyes, he can see the truth, but knows that it doesn't currently help his missing agent and friend. Knows it doesn't help the feelings of hurt and betrayal Tony is feeling right now. Knows the only thing that will begin to help is to find out who has been tormenting his boy this week.

"Ziva, take this to Abby." Gibbs takes a glove off his hand and gives it to Ziva who uses it to grab the envelope. "Tell her to figure out where it came from and who sent it. Do not look inside. Do not stay to help Abby or any longer than necessary. Tell her, I'll explain later."

"Yes, Gibbs."

"McGee!"

"What can I do, Boss?"

"You can figure out how someone overheard your conversation when you two were alone in a conference room at the time."

McGee pauses for a long moment, the suddenly exclaims, "The cameras, Boss! It had to be someone who had access to either the live feed in Security or the archived footage."

"Find out," he barks heading to his desk and retrieving his weapon before striding purposefully towards the elevators.

"Boss? Where are you going?"

Gibbs decides to ignore the question thinking the answer was obvious. Nothing else was more important right now than to find Tony.

ooooooo

Sitting inside his car, he contemplates the fact that Tony could be anywhere by now. If DiNozzo doesn't want to be found, it would take a miracle for even him to find his wayward agent. There were two places he's absolutely certain Tony will not be at – his house and Tony's own apartment. Unless Tony decides to double-back to throw him off, but his gut isn't buying that scenario.

Sighing, he decides to just start driving, and to let his gut and his heart lead him to his closest friend. Shaking his head at the realization, he wonders if he'd considered Tony his closest friend before or after Franks had been murdered.

Thinking back, he knows that while Franks had been his oldest friend, the one who had known most of his dirty secrets and screwed up past; it was Tony who seemed to always know him the best, knew the secrets and his past and _still_ sought out his companionship, his advice and kept on forgiving him for his mistakes. He had to find Tony. He couldn't let ten years of working together; of friendship go now – all because of a huge misunderstanding between his three agents.

Why hadn't Tony come to him? DiNozzo had confided in him about the truth of the 'flagpole incident', did he not think Gibbs would stand up for him? Or was that the problem? That his boss _would_ stand up for him. He probably didn't want to appear any weaker to his tormentors than he already considered himself to be.

Understandable, but he could've still sought advice from his boss and his mentor, if not his friend. His thoughts drifted back to the first time Tony visited NCIS and suddenly he knew where his friend was. He'd seen this ad in the newspaper a few days ago… The amazing thing was that he was already headed in the right direction and more than half-way there.

Having felt himself lucky to have found a parking space even remotely close by, he chuckled to himself when he saw the movie theatre's marquee:

_Paul Newman Film Festival – Today Only._

He'd be willing to bet good money he knew which film was playing on the big screen right now.

Stepping into the darkened theatre, he grinned when he saw he was right. He immediately zeroed in on Tony's location and made his way to sit next to his agent. Tony must've seen him coming because he didn't react in any way when his boss sat down. His senior field agent didn't look his way or say anything; he just kept watching the film.

They sat there companionably for a while. And, despite himself, Gibbs was enjoying a movie he'd not seen in a long time. But after about half an hour, he decided he'd let Tony lose himself in the movie in front of them for long enough. It was time to confront his demons, his tormentor, head on.

He leaned over and whispered, "Tony," allowing the tone of his voice to convey everything that needed to be said in just the one word.

His friend closed his eyes and hung his head for a moment before nodding and getting up out of his seat. Gibbs followed him and just as they were to exit, they heard:

_Boy, I've got vision and the rest of the world is wearing bifocals._

Gibbs looked over at this agent and saw that Tony was fighting to hold back a smile. With that, the lead agent knew in his gut that everything was going to turn out alright.

After leaving the movie theatre, they started walking down the street towards the coffee shop Gibbs had seen just before he'd found his parking spot. Tony didn't even question where they were going and just turned towards the place without any prompting.

The Marine was trying to figure out how to approach what had happened today, how to talk to his friend when his phone rang.

"Yeah, Gibbs."

He fought to keep his expression neutral given the news he was being told. Hanging up, he paused for a moment to consider his next words and decided to obfuscate.

"Let's go DiNozzo. We've got a case." It was in essence, a truth, but not the whole truth.

"I'll follow you," the ex-cop says and turns down a side street.

"You better," Gibbs replies with a tone indicating retribution if Tony did not show up back at NCIS HQ.

On the way back, he calls McGee and tells his agent to put him on speaker. "You sure you got the guy?"

"Yes, Boss. I managed to catch him on the security feed putting an envelope on Tony's desk very early this morning. He must not have had time to tamper with the recording yet. I've found evidence that the recordings had been altered the last few days."

"And Abby has matched evidence from the envelope to a printer in that office and a latent print on the envelope flap matches to him. Apparently he was getting careless," Ziva interjects.

There is a pause and Abby's voice can be heard, "Don't forget that I know how to hide a body so it will _never_ be found."

"Abby, I'll take care of it. McGee? Ziva? You go get this guy and stick him in Interrogation Room 1. Abs, you find out everything you can about that dirt bag – especially his connection to DiNozzo."

With that, he hung up. His thoughts though continued unbidden: _No one messes with my team and lives to regret it._

Arriving back at NCIS, he calls Tony to check on his ETA and estimates his agent is approximately five to ten minutes behind him. He hoped that was enough time.

As soon as he had his two younger agents in sight, he said, "Talk to me."

Ziva grabbed the plasma's remote and brought a photo up onscreen of Tony's tormentor. "Frank Delano. Thirty-nine. Has worked security at the Yard for three years. No complaints have been made about his performance. 'Always on time and thorough' – his immediate superior wrote on Delano's last performance review."

"And the connection to DiNozzo," Gibbs demanded.

McGee snatches the clicker from Ziva. "According to Abby… Except for them both working in the same building now, the only time their paths have ever crossed was when they were both in the same FLETC class. Delano was dropped about half-way through for poor academic performance, while Tony went on to graduate in the top five…of his class…"

When McGee trails off, Gibbs turns and smirks, "Why are you so surprised, McGee? Would've ranked higher had he not chosen to join a class that was already in progress."

Guilt flashes on both his younger agents' faces. McGee clears his throat and continues his breakdown of the information Abby gathered for them. "After failing FLETC, Delano goes to the Police Academy in Baltimore but fails to complete the training there as well – also because of poor academic performance. He did manage to pass his training to be a security guard and was hired on here, as Ziva said, three years ago."

"As far as we know Tony and Delano have never interacted with each other beyond casual greetings at the security checkpoints."

"When he gets here, send Tony to Observation Room 1, but do not try talking to him beyond relaying my order. He's not ready to listen to you two yet."

ooooooo

Tony takes his time getting back to HQ, not really in the mood to work with people who think so little of him. Entering the bullpen, he sees McGee and Ziva but not Gibbs.

McGee notices his entrance and says, "Gibbs wants you in Observation Room 1. He's interrogating a suspect right now."

_Suspect? Already?_ Tony nods in acknowledgment and heads to where he's been told to go hoping it's not yet another joke, hoping his two 'friends' wouldn't dare try anything so overt after what happened earlier.

Opening the door to the Observation Room, he steps into the darkened space. Immediately he sees Gibbs sitting across from one of the Navy Yard's security guards. The guy, whose name he can't remember – D-something – looks nervous and is sweating. It's obvious he's done something wrong or Gibbs wouldn't be unleashing one of his super-charged glares upon the guy.

From seemingly out of nowhere, he's practically tackled by Abby who is giving him one of her extra-special, extra-awesome hugs. He sinks into it for a moment before untangling himself from her suddenly octopus-like arms.

"Abs, not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?"

She points to the other room and with a devilish grin says, "You'll see."

A minute or so later, Gibbs begins to speak: "We know you used the printer in your office to make those labels, have got your print on the envelope flap, and have you on today's security footage – the one you hadn't tampered with yet."

While Gibbs is speaking, Tony's expression goes from indifference to shock to guilt to anger. No body messes with his family!

He feels Abby's arms come around him again which calms him a bit and reminds him he has some apologies to make.

Gibbs continues, "Now, all I want to know is why."

Delano, though nervous, refuses to reply, refuses to give in. Tony knows the moment Gibbs turns the 'Glare of Death and Destruction' on to full blast – something he's only heard about but had yet to witness, until now. And Tony can't help but feel a little warm inside that the glare was unleashed on his behalf.

Gibbs stands and walks around the table. He puts one hand on the back of Delano's chair and the other on the table. Then, he leans in and whispers something into Delano's ear, something that Tony can't hear.

But, it's immediately apparent that Delano heard what the Marine said loud and clear, because whatever Gibbs has said, it has caused the man's face to go from smug to nervous to full-blown panic and fear. Tony watched in fascination as he noticed a puddle starting to form on the floor beneath the guy's chair. Whatever Gibbs had said to the guy, it had caused him to lose control and pee his pants. He watched the puddle grow on the floor for a few seconds before it finally stopped and Gibbs went to sit back down in his chair.

_Wow_, he thought. _I've never seen Gibbs do that in interrogation before! Suddenly I don't mind the head slaps anymore if it prevents that particular glare from being pointed my way._

Next to him, Abby giggled. Apparently he'd said at least some of that last bit out loud.

Delano, looking embarrassed and utterly humiliated, finally gathers his wits enough to speak.

"DiNozzo's gotten everything I've ever wanted so when I saw him and that geek on my cameras looking like they were going to talk about personal stuff, I listened. Thought the information – DiNozzo being run up that flagpole – was too good to pass up."

The soon-to-be ex-security guard dares to smirk but is quickly put in place by another dose of Gibbs' 'Glare of Death and Destruction' and he pauses unsure of what more he should say. Tony's anger at the man flares at the same time Gibbs slams his palm down on the table. Delano jumps and immediately looks contrite, not daring to look Gibbs in the eye.

From inside the interrogation room, Gibbs calmly says, "Abby? Now."

She releases her hold on her friend and turns to the console. She flips a couple of switches and then knocks once on the glass.

"What did you just do, Abs?"

"Cut off the sound. Gibbs wanted you here for the confession, but not for the rest. He said I was to tell you that you should go make things right."

He can tell Gibbs has started speaking again by the movement of his boss' shoulders, but not anything beyond that. Shrugging his shoulders, he leans over to give Abby a kiss on the cheek and starts heading towards the exit.

Just as he's about to put his hand on the knob, Abby grabs his sleeve. "Tony, I've always known the truth – that it was you run up that flagpole – and it's never ever changed how I've felt about you."

Tony looks her in the eyes and takes the hand from his sleeve and kisses it. "Thanks, Abs. How did you know?"

"You told me the real story one night when we went out clubbing and drinking that first month you started at NCIS. After that I only ever heard the version everyone else but the team knows."

Tony squeezes her hand and lets go of it before heading out.

He had some apologies to make.

ooooooo

As soon as he stepped into MCRT's bullpen, both McGee and Ziva jump up from their seats. Tony holds up a hand to prevent them from speaking.

"Delano confessed and Gibbs is just finishing up with him now."

He shoves his hands in his pockets, not knowing what to say next. He's an investigator – a damn good one, he had thought – and he accused his teammates without following the evidence, breaking several of the Boss' rules in the process.

McGee then pipes up and says, "How about we just call it a draw? We all did and said things we shouldn't have, and I'm willing to forgive and forget."

He puts his hand out, palm down towards both Tony and Ziva. Ziva puts her hand on top of McGee's and says, "I agree with Tim. We were all wrong."

Tony takes his hands out of his pocket and places his right one on top of the pile. He smirks and says, "One for all, and all for one."

"Couldn't resist that movie reference, could you, Tony?"

"No McMusketeer, I couldn't, but you should know that by now," he confirms with a smirk.

"We definitely do, Tony," Ziva states with amusement in her voice.

Five minutes later, Gibbs startles his team by suddenly saying, "Have we all kissed and made up?"

Tony speaks up for the group, "Yes, Boss, we have though Tim said he prefers Abby's kiss to either of ours."

He looks over to see Tim giving him a frustrated look before grinning and asking, "What about Delano, Boss?"

"Delano has decided that he will pursue future employment elsewhere."

"There's not going to be any charges?" Tony asks sounding incredulous but also relieved.

"Not unless you want your life story broadcast around town."

"Thanks, Boss," is the response laced with as much sincerity and gratitude as possible.

"DiNozzo, my office. Now," Gibbs orders as he passes by Tony's desk.

Sighing in resignation for the butt-chewing he knows he deserves, he gets up and heads towards the elevator. As soon as he steps in, Gibbs hits the emergency stop button and turns to face Tony.

Tony continues to stare at the closed doors in front of him and refuses to face his boss at first, but a head slap takes care of his obstinacy pretty quickly.

Gibbs glares at him. It's not even remotely close to the intensity he knows Gibbs unleashed upon Delano, but in his mind it feels similar.

"Why didn't you come to me?" Gibbs asks his voice tinged with a disapproving tone Tony knows he deserves.

He says the first thing that pops into his head, "I thought I could handle it. That they, or whoever, would give up if I didn't show that it meant anything to me, that it wasn't effecting me."

"And how did that work for you?"

"I get what you're saying, Boss. I do. Despite my best efforts, I let my emotions dictate my actions and cloud my judgment. And I'll do my best to not let it happen again." Tony stops and tears his gaze away from his mentor and friend. Looking at his shoes, he nearly whispers, "I hate disappointing you."

Gibbs reaches up a hand and Tony flinches a little at the expected head slap. But instead of a head slap, his Boss pats his cheek twice, before using a finger to lift his chin. Once they've locked gazes again, he says to Tony, "You've never disappointed me, Tony. And never will."

Tony's throat suddenly feels tight as he fights to rein in his emotions. He has so much he wants to tell Gibbs – tell him how thankful he is for his friend's presence in his life. Tell him…

There's too much he needs to say, and it overwhelms a little, so instead, he says something else. Something he thinks his boss, mentor, and friend will understand the true meaning behind the flippant remark.

"I know you don't believe in coincidences, Boss… But out of all the possible places I could've been, you finding me sitting in the one movie theatre in the area showing _Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid_ comes pretty close. Don't you think?"

Gibbs grins widely and flips the emergency stop switch allowing the elevator to carry them on to its next destination, together – like always.

ooooooo

_The end._

**ooooooo**

**A/N:** Thank you!, _ncismom_, for your encouragement (or should I call it 'arm-twisting'? lol!), your help, and the beta. I don't think this story would've been finished without it. =]

_**Thanks for reading!**_


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